A phalanx of open-science advocates (including Harvard Forest LTER’s Aaron Elison) recently published a Science Policy Forum full of broad principles and specific proposals on how the scientific community might cultivate a more open, transparent, and collaborative approach to data archiving and sharing. And they didn’t give anybody a pass on physical samples either. Credit:… Read more »

For nearly half a century, ecologists have struggled to explain the relationship between ecosystem productivity and species richness. In a recent paper in Nature, USGS Ecologist James Grace and colleagues have managed to account for the many variables and confirm the long-suspected connection. To do so, they used a causal network model to incorporate data… Read more »

The International LTER Network is pleased to announce its first global Open Science Meeting to be held from 9-13 October 2016 in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Registration will be open to all experts involved in LTER, interested researchers, and stakeholders. The deadline for abstracts is March 15, 2016. Topical research themes will be… Read more »

Ice storms are powerfully disruptive to northeastern forests, but truly understanding their dynamics has proved challenging because they strike with little warning. Hubbard Brook LTER scientists took the matter into their own hands by creating an ice storm of their own making. The experiment, which was covered by NSF360 and Science Now, is allowing them… Read more »

The LTER Network Communications Office (NCO) announces a call for Synthesis Working Group proposals to promote analysis and synthesis of LTER data. Proposals must be submitted by the end of the day Wednesday, March 23, 2016, with research to begin before October 2016.

In August 2015, UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) was selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the site of the first Network Communications Office (NCO) for the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. Martha “Marty” Downs has been appointed as the Communications Officer of the NCO and brings a background in both ecological research and science communications.

Book teaches children about importance of salt marshes By Jessica Luton (University of Georgia) Athens, Ga. – Over 400 Georgia public libraries received donated copies of an educational children’s book written by University of Georgia department of marine sciences professor Merryl Alber. “And the Tide Comes In” focuses on teaching children about salt marshes. The… Read more »

The Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) scientist Christie Bahlai has been selected as one of the first Mozilla Fellows for Science. The four fellows selected represent a change in the process of scientific research, championing openness, collaboration and mentorship. More than 130 researchers applied for the 10-month paid fellowships that will… Read more »

The PBS Newshour program is currently featuring a story about some of the climate research being conducted by the Georgia Coastal Ecosystem (GCE) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. The story is part of a series, The Wild Side of Sea Level Rise, which explores the basic research behind ocean expansion and its impacts on… Read more »